AstraZeneca’s drugs head cashes in $1m of shares

The head of drug development and chief medical officer at AstraZeneca has sold just over $1 million worth of Astra shares weeks after it saw off a £69 billion takeover bid from US rival Pfizer.

Dr Briggs Morrison, who joined AstraZeneca from Pfizer in 2012, criticised his former employer during the bid, saying he did not feel it had a “science-based” approach and was “more commercial”.

He sold 13,677 American Depositary Receipts at $73.79 each — or the equivalent of £43.54 a share. That is well below Pfizer’s final offer of £55 a share. The shares were at £43.99 today.